"Based on what I know," DA-elect John Creuzot said, "murder would be the most appropriate charge under the circumstances." Guyger faces a manslaughter charge, but the case hasn't gone to a grand jury yet.

Author:
Ryan Osborne

Published:
12:58 PM CST November 18, 2018

Updated:
5:15 PM CST November 18, 2018

Incoming Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot said murder would be "the most appropriate charge" for Amber Guyger, the fired Dallas police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man, Botham Jean, at his apartment in September.

Creuzot, a Democrat who defeated incumbent District Attorney Faith Johnson in this month's election, appeared on WFAA's Inside Texas Politics on Sunday morning and shared his thoughts on the case, which he acknowledged would likely go to a grand jury before he takes office in January.

"In this case, based on what I know – and that's from you guys (the media), because it's what you all have reported," Creuzot said. "Nothing else has gotten out into the public airwaves, so to speak. I think that murder would be the most appropriate charge under the circumstances. But I don't know everything."

The Texas Rangers, a Texas Department of Public Safety investigative unit that took over the case at the request of Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall, obtained the manslaughter warrant for Guyger's arrest in September.

Johnson has said that her office was "independently" looking at the case and that a grand jury "will make the final decision in the charge or charges that will come out of this case.